Post by Banana Cat on May 6, 2012 2:40:02 GMT -5
www.lfl360.com/articles/world-afg-mexico-city-stage-set-for-epic-all-fantasy-game/
MEXICO CITY | STAGE SET FOR EPIC ALL-FANTASY GAME
By Pat Murphy
Photo: Joe Petro/LFL PHOTOS
Nikki Johnson went back to pass and the crowd hushed. Cassandra Strickland ran a stick route as Jessica Hopkins blazed up the sideline. On defense, Liz Gorman saw Whitney Meierotto break long to the post and readied for either deep throw. Johnson faked the wheel route to ChrisDell Harris and launched the ball 40 yards downfield.
What happens next will be determined on the field as the best of the best in women’s football clash tonight in the LFL All-Fantasy Game. The Western Conference all-stars play their counterparts from the East in Mexico City.
A sellout crowd of over 20,000 is expected at picturesque Palacio de los Deportes as Mexico experiences LFL football for the second time in three years.
The list of impressive players is as long as the roster, but the East will be led by Baltimore Charm signal caller Stacy Moon and Gorman, the two-time LFL Defensive Player of the Year from the Tampa Breeze.
The West will be anchored by quarterback Nikki Johnson of Las Vegas and Hopkins, the 2012 Mortaza Award winner from the Seattle Mist. Hopkins was the only player selected to the All-Fantasy team on both sides of the ball, earning a spot as a safety and as a wide receiver.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing all the girls from last year’s All-Fantasy game and meeting and playing with some of the new girls,” Hopkins said. “I’m also forward to representing for the Seattle Mist and bringing a win home for the Western Conference.”
Moon will have to be super to lead the East to a third consecutive victory in the All-Fantasy series. She said this game is nothing like the NFL Pro Bowl, where players are there to basically take a vacation while the game is an afterthought.
“First and foremost, I feel so honored to have been chosen to represent the East and my Baltimore Charm,” Moon said. “I’ve been training and trying to prepare myself both mentally and physically. It’s going to be a tough game…the West is also built around great athletes. I am definitely taking this game seriously. To have the privilege to be on the same field as these ladies is something I am truly looking forward to.”
Tampa’s Adrian Purnell will represent the Breeze with Gorman. She also said the game was serious business.
“The East is ready,” she said. “We immediately jelled together on the field and I am super-confident in our game plan. We have three-time All-Fantasy coach Chandler Brown — who has beaten the West for two consecutive years — so I trust him to put us in the right position to do it again this year.”
The athletes are also motivated by each other and this game will be just as competitive — if not more so — than a playoff game, simply because of the nature of the players involved.
“This is my first All-Fantasy game,” Moon said. “I’m playing with girls who have been in this game before and have a lot of games under their belts, but I want to prove to myself, my team and the league that I belong with these select group of athletes.”
Purnell put it perfectly into perspective.
“We take every game seriously,” she said. “We are all very competitive women who don’t like to lose.”
By Pat Murphy
Photo: Joe Petro/LFL PHOTOS
Nikki Johnson went back to pass and the crowd hushed. Cassandra Strickland ran a stick route as Jessica Hopkins blazed up the sideline. On defense, Liz Gorman saw Whitney Meierotto break long to the post and readied for either deep throw. Johnson faked the wheel route to ChrisDell Harris and launched the ball 40 yards downfield.
What happens next will be determined on the field as the best of the best in women’s football clash tonight in the LFL All-Fantasy Game. The Western Conference all-stars play their counterparts from the East in Mexico City.
A sellout crowd of over 20,000 is expected at picturesque Palacio de los Deportes as Mexico experiences LFL football for the second time in three years.
The list of impressive players is as long as the roster, but the East will be led by Baltimore Charm signal caller Stacy Moon and Gorman, the two-time LFL Defensive Player of the Year from the Tampa Breeze.
The West will be anchored by quarterback Nikki Johnson of Las Vegas and Hopkins, the 2012 Mortaza Award winner from the Seattle Mist. Hopkins was the only player selected to the All-Fantasy team on both sides of the ball, earning a spot as a safety and as a wide receiver.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing all the girls from last year’s All-Fantasy game and meeting and playing with some of the new girls,” Hopkins said. “I’m also forward to representing for the Seattle Mist and bringing a win home for the Western Conference.”
Moon will have to be super to lead the East to a third consecutive victory in the All-Fantasy series. She said this game is nothing like the NFL Pro Bowl, where players are there to basically take a vacation while the game is an afterthought.
“First and foremost, I feel so honored to have been chosen to represent the East and my Baltimore Charm,” Moon said. “I’ve been training and trying to prepare myself both mentally and physically. It’s going to be a tough game…the West is also built around great athletes. I am definitely taking this game seriously. To have the privilege to be on the same field as these ladies is something I am truly looking forward to.”
Tampa’s Adrian Purnell will represent the Breeze with Gorman. She also said the game was serious business.
“The East is ready,” she said. “We immediately jelled together on the field and I am super-confident in our game plan. We have three-time All-Fantasy coach Chandler Brown — who has beaten the West for two consecutive years — so I trust him to put us in the right position to do it again this year.”
The athletes are also motivated by each other and this game will be just as competitive — if not more so — than a playoff game, simply because of the nature of the players involved.
“This is my first All-Fantasy game,” Moon said. “I’m playing with girls who have been in this game before and have a lot of games under their belts, but I want to prove to myself, my team and the league that I belong with these select group of athletes.”
Purnell put it perfectly into perspective.
“We take every game seriously,” she said. “We are all very competitive women who don’t like to lose.”